For nearly 15 years, a certificate has hung on a sparsely occupied bulletin board on the back wall in the sanctuary of Laguna United Presbyterian Church in Casa Blanca, New Mexico. For the only Native American congregation in Santa Fe Presbytery, this now-faded certificate represented much more than a tradition or achievement. Every time they walked by it, it was a reminder of their congregation’s commitment to participate in the life of the church — a church that spans beyond their Casa Blanca community.
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Special Offerings ministry launched a redesigned website Friday, (specialofferings.pcusa.org) giving church leaders and users a more intuitive and robust presence to interact with the Special Offerings staff and access to the many resources available to congregations wishing to participate in the Church’s four Special Offerings. The ministry built the new site as a response to feedback its staff has received from church leaders and individuals over the past several years.
While they come from different generations and different continents, Ravo Vonialiosa and Lucy Janjigian are both shaped by histories of hardship that nurture their passion for peace and justice.
They say their commitment was strengthened last year after they encountered one another through a travel study seminar sponsored by the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, a ministry supported through gifts to the Peace & Global Witness Offering. Participants in the seminar visited Madagascar, an island nation 250 miles off Africa’s eastern coast. Due to years of unsustainable development practices and government instability, the Malagasy people suffer from poverty and malnutrition.
Racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, sent shockwaves of fear and grief across the United States on an August weekend last year.
Like many other Americans, Presbyterian pastor Jon Brown was distraught to the point of numbness, but on the following Monday morning his hope was renewed.
Princeton Abaraoha was a carefree 13-year-old boy when he was snatched by soldiers and taken to a military training camp. Two weeks later, he was carrying a gun as a soldier in Nigeria’s civil war.
In armed conflicts around the world, the combatants include tens of thousands of children who were conscripted to serve against their will. They are snatched away from their childhood innocence and from the nurture and comfort of their families.
While they come from different generations and different continents, Ravo Vonialiosa and Lucy Janjigian are both shaped by histories of hardship that nurture their passion for peace and justice.
Like millions of people around the world, Presbyterian elder Bill Campbell was moved by the heartbreaking image of a drowned Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach in 2015. Three-year-old Aylan Kurdi was among thousands of Syrians who drowned while trying to escape the violence gripping their country.
In a speech celebrating the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, former President Jimmy Carter said, “Peace, like war, is waged.” These words were a thoughtful turn-of-phrase and a challenging declaration spoken at an auspicious moment. However, they did not originate with Carter or his speechwriters. They came from the pen of Carter’s fellow Georgian Walker Knight, a Christian journalist, poet and peacemaker. Since Carter uttered these words, they have turned up in various places where peace is promoted. For example, actor George Clooney repeated the phrase in a statement praising the work of United Nations peacekeepers.
